For Thomas, Pats vs. Ravens just another game

Monday

Nov 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2007 at 11:24 AM

Adalius Thomas said he felt right at home in moving from inside to outside linebacker in the third quarter of the New England Patriots’ 31-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

Glen Farley

Adalius Thomas said he felt right at home in moving from inside to outside linebacker in the third quarter of the New England Patriots’ 31-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.

“It was fun,” Thomas said Monday. “It’s always fun to change up, go different places. I think it gives offenses something more to look at, being that you’re here, you’re there.

“But a lot of guys have done that,” said Thomas, who totaled six tackles in the game. “I’m not the first guy to do it. I’m pretty sure I won’t be the last.”

Next Monday night, Thomas will be returning to his original NFL home, Baltimore, for a game with the Ravens.

“(It’s just) another game, man, it’s not Baltimore versus me,” he said. “The biggest thing is you want to prepare for this game just like every other game. (It’s) just the fact that you know some of the guys that are there. I know a lot of the guys that are there. So I was there for seven years. It is what it is, but it’s nothing more than that.”

Selected by the Ravens in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, the Southern Mississippi product rose to develop first into a Pro Bowl selection on special teams in 2003 and ultimately to a Pro Bowl selection at linebacker in 2006. This year, he commanded a five-year contract on the free-agent market worth $35.04 million.

After starting nine of the Patriots’ first 11 games of the season alongside Tedy Bruschi at inside linebacker, there was Thomas shifting outside and Junior Seau coming off the bench to play inside after Rosevelt Colvin went down Sunday night with what the team reported to be a foot injury.

It was a trip back in time for Thomas, who just last year was employed on the outside in Baltimore, lining up to inside linebacker Ray Lewis’ right in the Ravens’ 3-4 scheme.

That would be the same Ray Lewis with whom he indirectly exchanged words earlier this season.

At issue were comments attributed to Thomas in an article that appeared in Sports Illustrated last month. In that article, Thomas was quoted as saying: “You’ve got to remember, I’m coming in from Baltimore. People there wanted the limelight, people sought out the limelight, starting with the head coach (Brian Billick). It was a star-studded system. Here, it’s about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win.”

Taking exception to those remarks, Lewis used his Monday night radio show on ESPN-1300 Baltimore to respond, saying: “When you take a shot at men that you claim to love to go to war with, I call those cowards. If you got something to say privately, you don’t have to go to a newspaper. If you got something to say to a man, speak it.

“You don’t become a Super Bowl champion in this business without having character and dignity for what you do for your teammates, OK? We won a Super Bowl without Adalius Thomas. The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls without Adalius Thomas.

“You’re talking about a guy who we put in … great talent, great talent, don’t ever get me wrong, but systematically we had to fit him into our schemes,” Lewis said. “Now, is that discrediting ‘A.D.’? No.”

Thomas, who said his entire quote wasn’t used in the magazine article and claimed that he mentioned that he had the opportunity to play with future Hall of Famers with the Ravens like Randall Cunningham, Deion Sanders and Lewis, let it be known that he intended to phone his ex-teammate.

On Monday, Thomas said that he and Lewis had spoken.

“I have talked to Ray,” Thomas said. “We talked and all the nonsense that was printed, that was half true, all of that is done with.”

Since his arrival in New England, Thomas has insisted that his time in Baltimore was in the past.

On Monday, though, Thomas acknowledged that knowledge he may have gained during his time with the Ravens might aid him a bit, although that would only carry him so far.

“I guess they have a new coordinator (quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel now carries the title of offensive coordinator-quarterbacks coach),” Thomas said, “but knowing that you know the personnel, knowing that you know what some players do well or don’t or what they like to do and knowing them personally (might help). But other than that, you still have to go in and watch (film) and try to pick up and kind of read that you have to do.”